Weekly Forum Summary

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This week in our forums…

Key Stats

In the past week, our Linux forums had the following activity and key statistics:

Total New Posts: 246
Total New Topics: 15

Top Contributors

@ericmarceau: 26 posts, 69 likes received
@tkn: 27 posts, 67 likes received
@Brian_Masinick: 24 posts, 74 likes received
@JohnWick: 17 posts, 58 likes received
@Bitpainter75: 13 posts, 49 likes received
@jmarkus: 16 posts, 49 likes received
@Jymm: 7 posts, 29 likes received
@Norm24: 8 posts, 26 likes received
@goatherd: 11 posts, 23 likes received
@Bitpainter75: 13 posts, 49 likes received

Interesting Topics

  1. Ubuntu MATE 26.04 → 26.10, LTS confusion, and practical upgrade advice

    In mate, @DeanHighland, @tkn, @bornagainpenguin, @suivue and others spent a very active week unpacking what it really means to be on Ubuntu MATE 26.04 / 26.04.1 and how that differs from the LTS base. The long-running thread “26.04.1 release” captured real-world upgrade experiences, issues like broken screenshots and menu editing, ESM/Ubuntu Pro interactions, and the emerging consensus that many users may be better off either staying on 24.04 LTS or moving to 26.10 once it lands. There is also clear signposting from @suivue about where maintenance effort is going and how fixes will be backported.

  2. Ubuntu MATE 26.10 beta lands

    Also in mate, @Norm24 highlighted that the next interim release is now available in “Ubuntu MATE 26.10 beta has been released”. @Jymm immediately raised a sharp UX question about branding, noticing that the beta image shows the standard Ubuntu logo even though it is a MATE spin. The thread is short but important as an entry point for anyone considering testing the beta instead of staying on 26.04.

  3. Screenshot and Eye of MATE problems on 26.04.1

    Still in #linux-support territory for Ubuntu MATE users, @Watford opened “Problem with Screenshot” after finding that area screenshots appear to work, but saving the image causes the app to stall. Follow ups from @tkn and @suivue explain that this is a known bug fixed in 26.10 and likely to be backported, while @DeanHighland confirms that even alternative tools like Flameshot then hit issues when viewing with Eye of MATE. The thread has concrete error logs and serves as a good reference for others hitting the same behaviour.

  4. Specifying and using USB storage “quirks”

    In #linux-support, @ericmarceau documented a subtle but important storage reliability issue in “Specifying and using hardware “quirks””. After seeing intermittent read failures from a WD MyBook over USB2, they tracked the fix down to adding the correct usb-storage.quirks parameters for each WD device in the GRUB kernel command line. The solution post explains both the original failure (including the du error) and the final stable configuration, which is likely to be useful to anyone relying on WD USB disks for backups.

  5. Recovery from a failed boot involving systemd-modules-load.service

    Also in General Discussions, @ericmarceau shared a detailed war story in “Recovery from failed boot - systemd-modules-load.service”. After repeated boot failures that dropped the system into maintenance mode, careful use of journalctl -xb, filesystem checks, and some targeted systemd investigation ultimately restored a working configuration. The narrative is a helpful example of how to methodically approach scary-looking boot errors without immediately resorting to a full reinstall.

  6. A simple readline in a Linux CLI or TUI

    In #help-support, @goatherd is designing a TUI in Go and wanted a minimal line-editing mechanism in “A simple readline in a Linux CLI or TUI”. The question digs into how to correctly handle backspace and control characters across terminals. @ugnvs pointed first to C examples (fgets, GNU Readline) and then to Go equivalents, eventually suggesting the github.com/chzyer/readline package, which the OP tested and confirmed works well. The discussion balances minimalism against robustness and includes side tips about shell read and stty behaviour.

  7. How to print (or save to PDF) entire Google AI response

    In #help-support, @ericmarceau raised a practical browser issue in “How to print (or save to PDF) entire Google AI response”. Google’s AI math output would not render correctly in printed or PDF form. @ClaudioDC experimented with Firefox print settings like “Print backgrounds” and system dialog printing, sharing screenshots showing which LaTeX-rendered equations appeared or vanished. The thread illustrates the difficulty of printing complex web-rendered math today and hints that the underlying problem lies in how Google serves the equation images.

  8. Sometimes I doubt my sanity

    In General Discussions, @tkn started a lighthearted thread “Sometimes I doubt my sanity” with a classic oversight: troubleshooting Ubuntu Studio update errors for 15 minutes before realising the laptop was not connected to a network. Replies from @pavlos, @ericmarceau, @Jymm, @Norm24 and @shybry747 turn this into a relatable discussion about aging, distraction and the importance of checking cables and simple causes first, all framed with humour.

  9. Severing old connections? Why not consider “Disroot.org”

    In news, @ericmarceau introduced privacy‑focused hosted services in “Severing old connections? Why not consider “Disroot.org””. @tkn expanded with a concise overview of Disroot as a Dutch foundation, their use of Triodos Bank, and a Nextcloud‑based stack hosted in the EU. The post also compares Disroot’s model to Proton services, emphasising GDPR compliance and immunity from the US CLOUD Act, which makes it relevant for members looking to move away from big tech providers.

  10. ESP32 project for those who play with uControllers

    In Showcase, @pavlos shared a hands‑on embedded example in “ESP32 project for those who play with uControllers”. Using Wokwi’s online simulator, the project links an ESP32 with a BMP180 sensor, providing a working virtual environment that others can fork and tinker with. It is a nice practical complement to the more desktop‑ and distro‑focused discussions elsewhere in the week.

Activity by the @staff Group

Staff were active across several areas this week, from publishing guides to steering tricky support threads.

Best Reply or Topic of the Week

Best Reply: @Bitpainter75’s deep FerrumPix update and support response

The standout contribution this week is @Bitpainter75’s detailed follow‑up on FerrumPix 0.9.56 in the showcase thread “FerrumPix: bringing photo management, RAW editing and image editing together on Linux”.

Read the reply here

In that single reply, Patrick lays out a clear, structured changelog that is unusually accessible for non‑developers:

  • Explains new manual chromatic aberration sliders in plain language and notes when to use them.
  • Describes performance improvements in RAW development and lens correction that users will actually feel.
  • Details improvements to masks, retouching tools (including larger brushes and better healing behaviour) and editor workflow options like compact adjustments.
  • Connects the changes back to real feedback from @jmarkus and others earlier in the thread.

It is a model of how to communicate complex application changes to a mixed audience of photographers and Linux users, and it effectively turns the forum post into documentation that others can reference when deciding whether to try or upgrade FerrumPix.

Top Contributor

Congratulations to @JohnWick on earning this week’s Top Contributor badge! :trophy:

Thanks for reading. See you again next week! :penguin:

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